Up In Flames (Ranger Security Book 3) Read online

  The sleek Atlanta high-rise was in a prime location in the downtown area, and had been furnished with every possible amenity. Considering Will had been moving from place to place for the past decade and had been in college before that, he had little in the material possessions department. Aside from his Alabama football memorabilia, of course.

  Like the office and lounge—the very room he found himself in at present—the space had been decorated with an eye for electronics and comfort. Heavy leather furniture, a sleek flat-panel television and a single spectacular remote control that ran it all, including the gas-log fireplace. The kitchen had been stocked right down to the refrigerator, which included a six pack of his favorite beer and a bottle of Jameson scotch—a welcome- aboard gift from Jamie—had been on the counter. His own belongings had been shipped ahead and placed in his spare bedroom. Will figured he’d have time to sort through those once this initial mission was over.

  Despite the fact that his new home was outfitted with every possible perk, there was something quite sterile about it. No personal photographs, no books or knick- knacks, no clutter. He’d been picking up pieces—a rug here, a painting there, a carved wooden bowl from a street vendor—for the place where he eventually settled down, but he’d never truly looked forward to putting them in place. He did now, and the realization had been a welcome surprise, a sign that he could move forward after...

  Will shook off the thought.

  In addition to the apartment, he’d been given a laptop with the interfacing technology to tap into their sophisticated system, a cell phone and a handgun along with the permit to carry concealed.

  Everything had been handled flawlessly, with an eye for detail and a thoroughness that he would have expected from the legendary former Rangers.

  Known as the Specialist, Brian Payne was coolly efficient and had strategy down to an art form. There was no such thing as half-assed in his world.

  Jamie Flanagan purportedly sported a genius-level IQ and had been the original player until he met and married Colonel Garrett’s granddaughter. With a lucky streak that bordered on the divine, Guy McCann’s ability to skate the thin line between recklessness and perfection was still locker-room lore.

  Will counted himself damned fortunate to be working with them and would have to think of some way to properly thank Colonel Garrett when time permitted. When he’d finally realized that he couldn’t continue in his job—that he no longer had the stomach for war—he hadn’t had any idea what he was going to do and hadn’t thought far enough ahead to even consider it.

  Getting out had been his only objective.

  Now Phase Two of Get Your Head Together could commence, starting with the new job. He sincerely hoped the nightmares would end as quickly as his former career had. Even as a child, Will had never had nightmares. He’d never been spooked by anything that went bump in the night, could watch horror movies without batting a lash and could honestly say he’d never been truly afraid of anything.

  That absence of fear had made him one helluva soldier.

  But these horrific dreams absolutely terrified him.

  It was the death, the helplessness, the inevitability.

  The weight of knowing that he couldn’t do anything at all to prevent what was happening pinned him into place, his leaden legs refused to move, to do anything that could change the dreadful outcome. And that final moment, the one that always made him sit bolt upright screaming, when the blast rocketed through the little school, tearing it and everything inside into bits and pieces, always brought him to his knees.

  Will closed his eyes, fighting back the vision and swallowed the revulsion that automatically clawed up his throat. He fisted his hands to keep them from shaking.

  “Do you have any questions?” Payne asked, his shrewd gaze missing nothing.

  “The liaison,” he said, determined not to screw this up. He couldn’t afford to make a mistake—this was his only backup plan. There was nowhere else for him to go. Home was out of the question, of course. He’d disgraced his family. His grandfather would welcome him, but

  Will couldn’t face him right now, either. “When do I meet him?”

  “You meet her at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning,” Payne said. “You’ll pick up a rental car at the airport, of course. Once the liaison and the statue are in your possession, you would be wise not to let either of them out of your sight.”

  So he wasn’t just protecting the statue, he was there to protect the woman, as well. He mentally dubbed a short, plump, graying academic type in neutral colors and sensible heels into the slot of the liaison and hoped like hell she didn’t have any annoying habits he’d have to deal with on the road trip. Hours upon hours trapped in the car with a denture clicker was not his idea of fun.

  But this wasn’t supposed to be fun, Will reminded himself. It was work. And he was damned lucky to have it.

  “Her name?” he asked, consulting a file. A nanosecond later, Will’s gaze landed on a hauntingly familiar face and shock detonated through him.

  “Mia Hawthorne,” Payne said, needlessly confirming what Will now knew. God, how long had it been? Ten years? Twelve? And yet in the space of a heartbeat and one glance at her picture, everything that had been old was new again.

  Looking into those warm brown eyes, he experienced the same uncontrollable rush of desire he always had when he looked at her. Her hair was longer now, Will noted, which was saying something because those mink locks had been past her shoulders when they’d been in college. He distinctly remembered the feel of the strands sliding over his chest when they’d been together. The silky, heavy weight of it against the backs of his hands.

  He felt Payne’s gaze on him. “You know her?”

  A disbelieving chuckle rumbled up Will’s throat. “She was my Lit tutor in college,” he confessed, tearing his gaze away. She was also the only girl he’d ever come remotely close to falling in love with. But he should probably keep that little nugget of insight to himself.

  Jamie looked away and swore under his breath and Guy chuckled, as though this was somehow funny. Payne’s expression, as usual, was unreadable. “Is this going to be a problem?” he asked.

  “No,” Will said, not quite following.

  “Ha,” Guy remarked. “She’ll be pregnant before they get to Dallas. Did you see the look on his face? We know that look. We’ve seen it many times over the past several years.”

  Pregnant before Dallas? Who? Mia? What the fu— Ahhhhh. “I can assure you, she will not be pregnant before we get to Dallas,” he said, infusing enough lead into his voice for all three men to take notice.

  “Can you assure us you haven’t slept with her before?” Guy asked.

  Will hesitated, not willing to lie.

  Guy merely smiled knowingly.

  “Whether he has or hasn’t isn’t any of our business,” Jamie said. He glared at Guy. “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t cast stones, remember? Mixing business with pleasure has been a bit of a stumbling block for all of us.”

  Will knew that, too. Jay had told him all about it when he’d told Will about his fiance, Charlie. Given the successful pairings of the men who worked there, Ranger Security should go into the matchmaking business, as well, Will thought.

  But he wasn’t looking for a relationship of any sort, temporary, permanent or otherwise. He could barely stand to be in his own head at the moment, much less let anyone else inside it. He had to focus on putting his life back together, on creating a new normal. On not disappointing anyone else.

  Besides, given how he and Mia had parted ways the last time they were together, he knew hooking up with her again was completely out of the question. He grimaced.

  It hadn’t been the right time for them back then, either.

  “How do you think Ms. Hawthorne is going to react to your presence as her security detail?” Payne asked.

  “She’ll be shocked,” he said, imagining the look on her face when he showed up as her protection. His lips twitched
. “But otherwise she should be okay with it We’re both professionals, after all, with the same goal.”

  Protecting Dick.

  Payne evaluated him for a moment longer, as though there was something else he wanted to say. Ultimately, he decided against it. He nodded once, then offered his hand. “Welcome aboard,” he said.

  Will smiled. “I’m glad to be here.”

  He stood and was halfway to the door before Jamie stopped him.

  Will turned reflexively and a box whizzed its way through the air toward him. He instinctively caught it— too many years playing with a pigskin to do otherwise— then glanced down and a felt a smile roll over his lips.

  Condoms.

  “Just in case,” Jamie said with a wink.

  * * *

  “This has got disaster written all over it,” Guy said after their newest recruit was safely out the room. “They’re former lovers.” His eyes widened significantly. “Traveling with a fertility statue.”

  Though it was only 9:00 a.m. and he wasn’t much of a drinker, Brian Payne pulled a Corona out of the refrigerator, popped the top and settled heavily into a leather recliner. “Did you want to go?” Payne asked Guy.

  “Hell, no,” he immediately replied.

  “And your overall impression of Will?” he asked, looking at his two partners.

  “Capable, but haunted,” Jamie said.

  Guy nodded. “And tired. Like he’s not getting enough sleep.”

  “He’s having nightmares,” Jamie remarked offhandedly.

  Payne arched a brow.

  “He told Will and Jay mentioned it to me,” Jamie explained.

  Having been a part of their own mission gone wrong—one in which they lost a dear friend—Payne, Jamie and Guy could certainly empathize.

  War was hell.

  But Jay Weatherford was settling in nicely and had had nothing but wonderful things to say about his friend. Combined with Colonel Garrett’s recommendation, hiring the former Ranger had been a no-brainer.

  But the college-girl connection was a bit worrisome, particularly considering—

  “Do you think we should have mentioned the other so-called side effect of being around Dick?” Guy asked, his lips twisting with familiar humor.

  Payne had considered it and rejected the idea. Some things were better left unsaid.

  Jamie chuckled and shook his head. “Will will figure that one out soon enough. It’s a fertility statue, after all. And there’s only one way to be fertile.”

  “I don’t believe it,” Guy said, kicking his legs out onto the coffee table in front of him. He settled more fully into the couch and snorted. “Like that little statue has the power to make you horny.”

  Jamie chuckled. “Sounds like Mia Hawthorne can do that well enough on her own when it comes to Will. Did you see the look on his face?”

  Yes, he had, Payne thought speculatively. Who knew? Maybe Mia and Dick would be just the sort of distraction Will needed. If he was too busy thinking about having sex, maybe his dreams would take a different direction.

  Payne lifted his beer. “To our newest recruit,” he said.

  “May he use the condoms we gave him,” Jamie added.

  Guy chuckled darkly, clinked his bottle against theirs. “Guess it’s too much to hope that he won’t need them at all.”

  ABOUT RHONDA RUSSELL

  A New York Times best-selling author, two-time RITA nominee, Romantic Times Reviewers Choice nominee, and National Readers' Choice Award Winner Rhonda Russell writes hot romantic comedy for Harlequin Books and Firefly Press, her indie press. With more than forty-five published books to her credit and many more coming down the pike, she's thrilled with her career and enjoys dreaming up her characters and manipulating the worlds they live in.

  Rhonda previously wrote as Rhonda Nelson, but getting married necessitated a name change. She and her husband (aka The Sweetest Badass in the World) and their menagerie of pets happily make their home on a 166-acre farm in the middle of nowhere in a small town in Northern Alabama near the banks of the Tennessee River. If you’d like to see videos of baby ducks, spoiled turkeys who like to ride in the car, guineas who think they’re turkeys, then be sure to check her out Facebook Page Author Rhonda Russell.

  More from Rhonda Russell

  Ranger Security

  Under His Skin, #1

  Over The Top, #2

  Up In Flames, #3

  Men Out of Uniform Series

  The Player, #1

  Major Perfect, #2

  The Maverick, #3

  The Loner, #4

  The Hell-Raiser, #5

  Letters From Home, #6

  The Soldier, #7

  The Rebel, #8

  4-Book Romance Omnibus

  Love You More

  Bless Her Heart Series

  The Future Widows' Club, #1

  Disenchanted: A Witchy Business Novella